Differing reports on the future of Janmark and Desharnais in Edmonton

The Edmonton Oilers are quite rightly focused right now on trying to complete a remarkable comeback and win the Stanley Cup. However, such is the world of the NHL -- and professional sports in general -- that you always have the future of the organisation in the back of your mind.

This includes free agency, which is set to begin on July 1. Along these lines, some interesting speculation has emerged, in respect of two of the Oilers' pending unrestricted free agents.

As per Jim Parsons of NHL Trade Talk, Mattias Janmark wants to remain in Edmonton, while Vincent Desharnais is preparing to test free agency. The report originally came via Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff.

Janmark just wants some stability

Starting with Janmark, in one respect he is so eager to stay, that he is apparently willing to take an annual paycut from the $1 million he received this season. However, the tradeoff is that he wants some security, by way of a multi-year deal.

In truth, this sounds like a more than fair compromise which would certainly be of help to the Oilers. As per Cap Friendly, they only have $10,033,333 of projected cap space available for next season, but 10 unrestricted and two restricted pending free agents to contend with.

Janmark had an underwhelming regular season, which included career lows of 12 points and average ice time of 11:54. He also recorded his second-lowest shooting percentage and third-lowest Fenwick For percentage in all situations, of his eight seasons in the NHL.

However, the 31-year-old has turned it on during the playoffs and been a vital role player for the team. He has produced six points, a +3 rating and overall solid play in all 23 Oilers playoff games, including a goal and an assist in the game four 8-1 rout of the Florida Panthers.

Desharnais in demand by other teams but perhaps not the Oilers

Turning to Desharnais, Seravalli says he won't take a team-friendly deal just to remain in Edmonton, which is why he is apparently considering free agency. As we wrote back in April, the Oilers had been in contract extension talks with the big defenceman, but then decided to put the negotiations on hold until after the playoffs.

Desharnais' expiring contract has an annual cap hit of $762,500, and you can certainly understand why he wants a pay-rise in his next deal. He also has a lot attributes which will be appealing to teams, including his physical imposing presence and toughness.

Along these lines, the 28-year-old was second on the Oilers during the regular season in blocks and fourth in hits. He played so well overall, that despite his offensive limitations, he spent time as part of the second pairing.

However, a couple of factors have come into play, which might make the Oilers not as willing to fight for Desharnais to stay in Edmonton. One is his performances during the playoffs, with him producing just one assist and a -9 rating, while averaging 17:15 of ice time in 16 games.

The other factor is the coming of age of Philip Broberg during these playoffs, with him finally showing why he was picked eighth overall in the 2018 NHL entry draft. It is telling that Broberg has played in all five Stanley Cup Final games, while Desharnais has only appeared in one.

It should be noted at this point, that Broberg himself is one of the Oilers' two pending restricted free agents. However, his aforementioned play during the playoffs, combined with his age and upside, make him more valuable to the organisation than Desharnais.

Overall, in an ideal world the Oilers would prefer to have both Janmark and Desharnais back with the team next season. However, we are of course not operating in the real world so will wait to see how all of this plays out, especially with Desharnais.

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